Wildflowers
by Sapphira2
Summary: I'm not knocking the choice Winnie made at the end of the movie, but I hated the way it left Jesse all alone. So this story picks up where the movie left off, with Jesse at Winnie's grave, when Winnie's great granddaughter steps into his life...


"Wildflowers"

Based on Tuck Everlasting, The Movie 

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the book, or to the movie, and I make no claims to them. I am receiving no payment for this piece. Just the satisfaction of working with it.

The following does contain spoilers for the movie's ending, so don't read if you don't want to know how it ends.

Author's Note : Okay, first off… I have NEVER read the book, so don't flame me if you think this fic isn't up to the caliber of the original story. I'm just going by the movie itself, because I hated the sudden ending.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking Winnie's choice, but I hated the fact that it left Jesse all alone. So as soon as I finished watching the movie, my muse attacked yet again, and I knew I had to write a story to conclude it.

So, it picks up where the movie left off, with Jesse in our present time, kneeling by Winnie's grave… except I decided to bring Winnie's great granddaughter into the picture…

Keep in mind, I've only seen the movie once, but it appeared to me that Winnie's grave was by THE spring, so that's what I'm going to go on.

And, here we go….

"Wildflowers"

Jesse didn't know how long he'd been sitting there. It could have been a moment, It could have been an hour. It could have been a decade. When one was immortal, things like minutes didn't matter anymore. What was the point? What was the point to timing the seconds passing by in your life, when that life would never end?

The sun had disappeared behind the clouds, and the day's end was close at hand. A small wind had kicked up, and it blew delicately around him as he fingers traced the deep etching of the tombstone marking Winnie's grave, next to the Spring, and the place where they had first met.

Beloved Wife – Beloved Mother

So, his love had chosen to live her life, after all. He wondered who it had been she had married. If he had treated her right. If she had loved him. Had he danced with her under the stars like he had, so long ago? With only the forest's creatures singing to them, and the sound of their hearts beating so loudly in their ears? Had he ever filled Winnie's heart and imagination with the wonder that Jesse had?

Jesse closed his eyes painfully. Some would think that almost a hundred years would have been enough to dull his feelings for her… 

But he was an Immortal. A hundred years was a day for him.

But that was all it had taken for that…exquisite creature to drift into this world, grow old, and drift out. He could still remember her in perfect detail. The way her face had lit up with every new discovery that he had shown her. The beauty and innocence in her blue eyes that had so captured his heart long ago.

He tried to imagine those eyes, faded and worn, as they must have been before her death. And the image…the image was more than he could bear, and he felt a quiet sob work it's way up into his throat as he pressed his forehead against the cold stone in front of him. The only marker left in this world of the vibrant, beautiful creature that he had been his heart, and he had wanted to call his own until the end of time. 

The only time he could honestly say that he had felt like he was mortal again, was when he had been with her that summer… 

That had been the only time, where his life as an Immortal didn't stretch out in front of him for an eternity. Where no day had ever felt longer than that. Where any moments he had spent with her, had been counted, treasured, and locked away securely within his soul. 

That summer hadn't felt like years to him. It had felt like a single breath. One that he had lived on for almost a hundred years without taking another. It had been a moment in time for him, and he hadn't been lying to her when he had told her so long ago, that he would gladly die the following day, if he could have only spent another night with her.

Jesse sighed as he lifted his head up to watch the progression of a bird winging its way home above his head, the breeze spinning through his hair as it cooled the silent path of his tears on the sides of his face. The only marker for the pain he was feeling so clearly know.

He had never stopped loving her, and he only prayed, that she had never stopped loving him.

He didn't know exactly what he was feeling at the moment. He had felt so many emotions through the decades, he wasn't sure which was which anymore. He couldn't condemn her for her choice. She had chosen to live on without him. Had chosen to marry, have children, and grow old. She had chosen to die.

And as crazy as it might have sounded, he was jealous of that. He was jealous of the fact that he couldn't have grown old with her. 

What was the point to being an Immortal, if you couldn't have the one you loved at your side through Eternity?

He now knew why his brother's soul had been completely destroyed. He now knew why he had tried to warn him against falling for Winnie. You weren't meant to watch the one you love grow old and die, while you stayed young and alive. That had never been the way of things. You weren't meant to outlive the one you loved. You weren't meant to outlive your children. You weren't meant to live out of the century you were borne in. It was like his father had told Winnie so long ago. What they were, you couldn't exactly call it living.

But it still didn't mean Jesse didn't feel as if a part of himself had been ripped out. Was this to be the way it would always be? The world forever changing around him, as he stayed the same? 

"Who are you?"

Jesse started as he heard a feminine voice spoken from just about 15 feet behind him. Quickly leaping to his feet in surprise, he turned around to confront the person who had intruded upon him. A feeling like someone had doused him from head to foot in ice water came over him, as he saw the person who owned that voice.

Rebecca hastily backed up, eyes going wide as she saw the young man leap so cleanly to his feet. Her hand clenched tightly around the bouquet she was holding. Her heart pounded in alarm as she surveyed the man in front of her. She prepared herself to run if he made one more sudden movement. She hadn't expected to find a complete stranger here. Never mind one so stunning. He looked just as surprised to see her as she was to see him.

Jesse tried to make sense of what his eyes were seeing. She looked just like her. Same skin, same facial structure, same eyes. Her hair was straight and somewhat shorter, but it was the same color. Pulled back from her face. Was she even real? Or was she some sort of mirage brought on by his grieving mind that had wanted to see what couldn't possibly exist?

Rebecca saw the rather confused and stunned look cross over his face. And she also recognized the sorrow she saw in his eyes. She felt her body relax slightly, but not her stubbornness to figure out who he was, and what he was doing here.

"Again, who are you, and what are you doing on my property, at my great grandmother's grave?"

She even sounded like her. Jesse shook his head slightly, allowing himself to try to figure things out. She wasn't Winnie, but one of her descendants. He had heard the similarities were sometimes passed down, but he had never seen something so… identical. The only thing was, she appeared to be a couple years older than Winnie had been when he had left her. The couple years difference marking the change in a fuller body, and a more defined bone structure to her face.

"I was just passing through." He spoke quietly. Studying the girl across from him. Her clothes were modern, as were her appearance and attitude. She was holding a bunch of wildflowers tightly in her hand. "Who are you?"

Rebecca frowned, "I asked you first. And I'm still waiting for that answer."

Jesse sighed softly to himself, rubbing the back of his neck. Trying to figure out a way to get out of this.

"My name is Jesse. My family…that is, my ancestors used to live on this land. I just came to see it for myself."

Rebecca's frown deepened. "This property has been in my family for generations. What was your family's name?"

"Ah, I think its best if I take my leave." Jesse started to walk past the girl, but in a sudden show of stubbornness, she stepped into his way. A hand halting his progress. Jesse looked up at her in surprise. His gaze locking onto blue eyes that were so reminiscent of her great grandmother.

"You still haven't answered my question as to why you were so interested in the grave." Rebecca mentally kicked herself. She didn't know why she had to be so mulish sometimes. This would have been a perfect time to have just let the guy go on his merry way, without getting involved, yet again, with someone's private business. 

And she honestly thought that she would have done so, if, for one, he hadn't been so incredibly captivating, and two, he hadn't been so close to the Spring.

Jesse looked away from her long enough to come up with a plausible story. "My great grandfather," he started, the lie bitter on his tongue, "knew Winifred –" 

"She hated that name," Rebecca broke in. Smiling rather ruefully at Jesse. Her hand still had yet to come down off his shoulder.

Jesse smiled back. Remembering how he had used to tease Winnie about her name. His eyes flickered back warm amusement at the girl across from him for the first time, as he continued, "They were very good friends. He spoke of her often." Jesse's gaze flickered back towards the grave. His eyes growing sad. "I just wanted to see the woman that he had cared for so much. Or what was left of her in this world."

Rebecca sensed the sadness in the man's voice, even if she couldn't understand it.

"Rebecca."

Jesse turned back towards her, confused. "I'm sorry?"

"My name." She clarified. "It's Rebecca."

Jesse nodded towards her, before slowly stepping away from the pressure of Rebecca's hand.

"How did you find this spot?" Rebecca suddenly asked. Remembering the reason for her concern earlier. Her eyes glanced over at the Spring, before quickly darting back to his face. "I mean, the path is far from marked, and it is heavily wooded… how did you find her grave?"

Jesse didn't know how to answer that. His indecision shining clearly in his eyes. What could he say to her? What did she already know? He knew he should have left, but it was like he was drowning, and he couldn't pull himself away from this spot. He couldn't pull himself away from Rebecca. It was like she had become a lifeline, and he didn't even know her.

Rebecca saw his hesitation, and warning bells started to go off in her head. "What did you say your name was?" she asked quietly. Searching his expression. Trying to unveil his secrets.

"Jesse." He repeated. Not meeting her gaze.

"I mean your last name."

Jesse closed his eyes tightly and took a deep breath as he told her the truth. "Tuck…my last name is Tuck."

Rebecca became very still. Her eyes never leaving him. "Tuck." She repeated, "Jesse Tuck."

Jesse just looked back at her. A feeling of dread coming over him as he watched her face go white. Just what did she know? What had Winnie told her?

Rebecca placed a hand to her forehead, the wildflowers falling to lie on the ground at her feet. "Um, that can't be. I mean… I must have heard you wrong." She started to take a few steps away from him. Now it was Jesse's time to pursue.

"Why?" He asked cautiously. Eyes narrowing as he realized the truth. Damn it, he shouldn't have said anything! "What did she tell you, Rebecca?" He asked, tone becoming darker with suspicion. 

"Nothing! I don't know what you're talking about!" Rebecca started to back up quickly, looking for an escape. Eyes flickering worriedly over him as he started to close the distance between them.

Jesse was starting to panic himself. Her eyes lied to him. He knew she wasn't telling the truth. He didn't want this to start all over again. He had to _know_ what Rebecca knew.

"What did Winnie tell you?!" his voice rose higher than he had wanted it to, as he saw the panic glaze over Rebecca's eyes. She turned and bolted.

"Rebecca!" he shouted after her. Breaking into a run a to chase her. Tracking her through the forest. She was fast, he'd give her that, but she couldn't outrun him. He knew these woods better than she knew them herself. And he knew how to follow someone who didn't want to be followed.

******   

Rebecca kept running. Her shoes finding purchase over the rough terrain. She had known this forest from birth, but even so, it was becoming increasingly unfamiliar to her as the sun set, and dusk started to fall. It was getting dark. Darker under the canopy of trees which blocked out the remaining bit of light. But she didn't stop. She had to keep running. 

If everything had been true… if her great grandmother's journals had been true… Rebecca didn't stop to think about what this could mean, she just kept running. The smell of the forest was heavy around her, but she didn't take time to enjoy it. What had once been a haven for her, was now a maze she had to run through.

She had been so stupid! She never should have asked those questions. She never should have even talked to him! If she hadn't, she would be safe at home eating dinner right about now! Not running from a guy who seemed every bit a part of the mystery and fantasy that Winnie had weaved around this place.

Rebecca darted in and amongst the trees. Forcing herself to keep up her breakneck pace. She ran down and out of different hollows and valleys. Taking different paths leading nowhere in the hopes of losing him. She couldn't hear if she was being followed or not. All she could hear was the sound of her heart beating loud in her throat. She tripped and stumbled few times, but, pushing herself back up, she'd take off again. Tree limps slapped at her body despite her attempts to push them out of her way. Her hair came loose from her scrunchie, and it whipped out behind her. Snagging on the leaves.

Rebecca dropped down into a sunk-in clearing that she had camped at once. It was sheltered up against a steep rock overhang that blocked the wind. Large boulders were scattered about, and the remains of her campfire were still present. It was so dark, but at least from here, she knew her way back home. She knew she should wait till first light to try to make the journey, for it was a long one. But she was more afraid of the young man most assuredly tracking her, to be worried about the wildlife that she might stumble into.

Rebecca collapsed onto one of the boulders. Trying to desperately catch her breath. Her heart wouldn't slow from its erratic beat. Her lungs ached, and her legs felt like Jell-O. A stitch in her side made its presence known. But she couldn't stop… she had to keep going. If she knew this forest, then he most assuredly did. She could only hope that all of her twists and turns had confused him as to where she was really going.

It was getting so dark…

Rebecca started heading in the direction going home at a jog. How did she get herself into this? Why couldn't she behave herself and act like a normal teenager? Winnie had always told her when she was little, how much of herself she saw in Rebecca's spirit. Well, now knowing what Rebecca had _thought_ was a simple fantasy, just might actually be true… she wanted her to take that back! She wished she had never read those journals. Had wished she had never asked Winnie before her death what they meant. 

Because of them, she was now running from a guy who was supposedly a couple hundred years old, in the dark, in the forest, at night… God! She was going to have to learn to not be so damn curious about things that were none of her business!

Rebecca was just making it deeper into the woods, when she heard a twig snap sharply behind her. Gasping in alarm, she looked over her shoulder into the darkness, her eyes searching out the shadows. Heart hammering loudly in her ears, she turned back just in time to watch a tall form dart in front of her. A cry escaped her lips as her body impacted hard against him. His arms came firmly around her. Restraining her from getting away.

Rebecca let an infuriated scream and thrashed in his arms. Fighting, kicking, and clawing to get away from him. Jesse's grip just tightened, as he pulled her back towards the campsite.

"Let go of me!" Rebecca yelled, face flushed with her anger and exertion. It irked her that her struggles didn't so much as loosen his grip on her arm.

"Not until I get some answers myself." Jesse stated firmly. He dragged her over to one of the boulders, and firmly set her down on it. "Relax, Rebecca. I'm not going to hurt you."

Rebecca didn't bother listening. She was off the boulder and running again.

"I'll run you till you drop!" Jesse cautioned, waiting to see if she would come back on her own.

Rebecca slid to a stop. Her breath catching in her throat and she struggled against the exhaustion beating so strongly at her. She turned back around, still panting, strands of her dark hair clinging to her flushed face. Eyes bright, she looked cautiously at the young man standing there so calmly.

Jesse felt a smile start to spread over his face. Yep, she was a lot like Winnie. He saw the same spirit and fire in Rebecca that he had seen in her. Although, he would admit, the stubbornness and temper were new. He waited, arms crossed, as she slowly walked back. Nodding at her, he turned, and started to gather up some wood laying around the clearing.

Rebecca watched her carefully, as she sat down slowly on the rock. The muscles in her legs starting to give out.

"Why did you run from me?" Jesse asked quietly. Not comfortable with the fact that she was so afraid of him. 

Rebecca didn't answer. She just watched him as he pulled out a matchbook, and deftly set fire to some of the wood and dry grass he had put together. The fire came roaring to life, and he stepped away from it. His body still in a crouch as he looked back up at Rebecca. The light from the fire casting its warm glow over his features. Rebecca couldn't stop the little flutter her stomach did when she acknowledged how beautiful he was. Was he really what Winnie had said he was? Or was this about something else? She looked away from him. Silently grateful for the heat from the fire. She was starting to feel cold.

"Don't be afraid of me, Rebecca. Please." Jesse's tone was soft, and it had a way of penetrating the thick layers of suspicion and fear surrounding Rebecca like a thick cloud.

Jesse sighed and ran his hands through his hair. Pushing most of it back from his face, but a few locks fell back down to graze across his forehead.

"Alright, I'll start with something else. What did Winnie tell you?" Jesse started to stand, but saw that his closeness and his height made her nervous, so he stepped a few steps away. Sitting down on a boulder across from her. Only the flickering flames from the fire separating them. His expression was intense as they studied each other. Finally Rebecca started to speak.

"She didn't tell me anything I hadn't already found out about."

Jesse's eyes narrowed at that, and he tilted his head to the side. "What do you mean?" Watching Rebecca look down at her hands.

"I found her journals and read them. I thought…" Rebecca paused, "I thought that it was just a story. Like the ones she used to tell me at bedtime. I couldn't understand why she would write such a story in her journals if it wasn't true."

The silence was heavy between them, as Jesse waited for her to find the words to continue. A lump forming in her throat.

Rebecca looked up into Jesse's eyes, and saw the vulnerability reflected there, and she felt the rest of her fear begin to slip away.

"I had asked her about it once, but she would never answer me. Then, right before she died, she called me to her. She asked me…She asked to protect the forest here. To never let it become destroyed. She left it in her will to me. To be handed over when I turned 18. But most importantly, she asked me to protect the secrets of the Spring, as _she_ had done for years."

Jesse closed his eyes tightly, and dropped his head into his hands. The hole within his heart where his love for Winnie resided began to ache. She had kept her promise. She had protected his family's secret. And had passed it on to the one person she thought might be able to replace her. Rebecca.

"I didn't understand why she asked me to do this." Rebecca continued. Her words rushed. Eyes glittering with tears. "I thought it had all been a story…Just a story. But she told me…she told me before she died that it was real. That it had actually happened. And she made me swear to guard it. To never let anyone know about it. Or you."

"And did you believe her then?" Jesse asked quietly, lifting his gaze to look at her. The firelight danced across her pained expression as she shook her head no.

"I didn't fully believe until I saw you."

The statement hung in the air between them, and Jesse nodded. He saw the way her teeth were starting to chatter.

"You're cold." He stated quietly, wishing he had brought his jacket. 'Move closer to the fire."

Rebecca grudgingly did as he asked. Her shivering form seeking the heat coming off of the flames. Lessening the chill. She watched Jesse stand back up, and begin to pace slowly around the clearing. Coming to a stop by another boulder as he braced his booted foot up upon it. He looked up at the stars, hands resting comfortably on his lean hips. Rebecca couldn't help but study him. She tried to imagine him in the clothes that Winnie had described him as wearing, and she found it wasn't that difficult to do so. The jeans and dark gray shirt clung like a second skin, and he looked incredible, but she could imagine what he might look like wearing old world clothing. He may have looked young physically… but his eyes…They were old and timeless with their secrets. Had he seen all of the world like he had sworn to Winnie he would? Had he found what he wanted out of his immortal existence? Or was what he had wanted, Winnie? And now, even that had been denied to him?

Rebecca felt a dangerous melting in her heart towards him, and she knew that, despite her sudden knowledge that he wouldn't ever hurt her, she knew she was in an even greater danger now. That of losing her heart. Her adolescence had been spent imagining the kind of love that could transcend all time, all barriers…Even death.

****** 

Jesse didn't know how long he stood like that, frozen in that moment of time, before he spoke up.

"Her and I stayed here one night." He stated quietly. "We danced under these very same stars."

"I know." Rebecca replied. "She always said that that had been the greatest night of her life."

Jesse turned back and walked back over to Rebecca. Thinking of another question that he had to ask her. "Rebecca? Did you drink from the Spring?"

Her eyes grew wide at that, as he came over and sat down beside her on the dirt in front of the fire. His eyes locked on the mesmerizing dance of the flames.

"N-No," she stuttered out, leaning back a little. "No, I never did."

"Why not?" he asked, curious as to her reasons for not doing so.

Rebecca felt a blush spread across her face, and hoped that the glow from the fire hid it.

"I don't know. Maybe because she had cautioned me to be very careful in my decision. She told me to make sure that I fully understood the implications of doing so, and to be aware that there wasn't ever going to be a second chance if I did. Even though I didn't fully believe her a the time, I never drank from it." Rebecca smiled ruefully. "Just in case."

"Did you ever tell anyone else about what she told you?"

Rebecca shook her head slowly. "No, I've always kept it a secret. Who would have believed me anyway? Who would have believed _her_?"

"You did, if only in part." He pointed out.

"That was different. She was my great grandmother." Rebecca shook her head slightly. "Ever since I was little, she was the one who always looked after me. My mother died shortly after having me. I never knew my father. My grandparents are off on some vacation or other, and they barely ever come around. Winnie was the one who took care of me. I had always loved the whimsical fantasies she would tell me. So I guess it was only natural, for a part of me to believe in the story of your family. To believe that, somewhere, in this crazy world, that magic really does exist."

"You believe that it's magic?" Jesse asked wryly. His expression dark and painful.

Rebecca nodded, un-wittingly reaching her hand out to touch his cheek, before she had a chance to think about it. "Yes I do. Even if it brought you pain."

Jesse flinched slightly at the innocent contact, looking up at her. Somewhere a night owl let out his cry, and one of the small logs in the fire made a heavy popping sound as sparks flew up as it broke apart. But his gaze never left hers.

Rebecca became self conscious, and her hand dropped away. 

Jesse was uncomfortable with what he was feeling. This didn't make any sense. He had come back to Tree Gap, in the hopes he would find the woman he had left behind almost a hundred years ago. Instead, he had found her grave, and one of her descendants. And try as he might, he couldn't force himself to walk away. Was he setting himself up for yet another heart break if he fell in love with the girl beside him?

He didn't think he could handle watching another person grow old and die, while he stayed forever young. Forever Immortal. But at the same time, could he ask another to stay with him? To live in this strange life he shared with his family?

Winnie had refused him. And he knew it had taken her a great deal of courage to do so. Because that is what it took to simply _live._

Courage.

Why had Winnie told her great granddaughter the truth? Why couldn't she have let the secret die with her?

"You loved her, didn't you?"

Jesse looked up into the sad gaze of the girl beside him. She looked so much like her. Why was God tormenting him so?

"Yes, I loved her. I think I always will." He stated quietly.

"She never stopped loving you." Rebecca pointed out. "She never hated you, like most probably would have. She died, listening to a recording of that song of yours that she had made."

Jesse frowned, "Which song?"

Rebecca rolled her eyes softy, before she whistled out the tune. The woods around her echoing with the almost forgotten melody.

Jesse felt his stomach leap as he recognized the haunting lullaby. Closing his eyes, he let out the breath he'd been holding as he let the notes wash over him. Even now, after all these years, it still had a way of sinking deep into his soul with its melody.

Rebecca swallowed as the final note died off, and she looked back at the fire. Suddenly feeling strange. Darn it, but she was attracted to him! Wasn't she betraying Winnie with her thoughts?! She couldn't fall in love with him! Granted, she had been fascinated by him long before she had found out who and what he was, but she couldn't let her heart get the better of her.

Could she?

****** 

They talked quietly for the next few hours. Jesse told her where he had been. The places he had seen. How his family was doing. Rebecca filled him in on her life here in Tree Gap. And somewhere along the lines, they began to relax into each other's company. How long had it been for both of them, to just simply sit with someone and talk for hours without ever running out of things to say? 

And somewhere along the lines, they became friends.

"I don't know about you, but I'm starting to get just a little bit hungry." Rebecca stated as she stood up.  The fire having already dimmed back down to nothing put a pile of smoldering embers. "You could come with me," She offered, "Back to the house. I'm sure Amanda is getting a little bit worried right about now." Amanda was her 'caretaker'. She was the housekeeper that had almost been one of Rebecca's surrogate parents. Winnie had made it clear in her will that she had wanted Amanda, and only Amanda to continue her care over Rebecca, as well as the Estate. She hadn't trusted anyone else to leave everything intact till Rebecca had come of age.

She saw the momentary indecision in his eyes, and she reached down to pull him up by his arm. "Come on. You've got to be hungry. You can stay with me as long as you like. Really, it'll be nice having someone in the house I can talk to. Amanda's okay, but she's almost in her seventies, and it's hard for us to find anything to agree on discussing." Rebecca paused, suddenly embarrassed. "I get very lonely, for someone to talk to." she admitted softly. Jesse's heart turned over at the statement. Remembering another young woman who had felt all alone. And, despite how he might have tried to hide it, he knew that feeling well. He needed the contact with her more than she needed it from him.

She was holding out her hand, and Jesse knew if he took it, things were going to make a change down a road that neither of them knew where it was going to lead.

But he couldn't stop himself. She had offered him another chance at having someone to talk _freely _with again, and he couldn't turn away from that. He'd been alone for too long. He took her hand, and started to lead her through the darkened forest towards her home.

"I'm sorry you didn't find her waiting for you. That she hadn't made the decision to drink." Rebecca stated quietly. Her hand tightening within his. Jesse squeezed it back reassuringly. 

"Winnie made her choice, knowing that I would respect it." He answered back. Pushing a tree limb out of the way as Rebecca ducked underneath it. "She made the right decision for herself. Even if that meant her life wouldn't include me. Besides," he glanced over at her. "Look at yourself. You haven't drank."

Rebecca glowered at him. "I haven't drank from the Spring, simply because I see no reason to drift on through eternity without someone there at my side. The fear of never finding the right 'someone' is hard enough to deal with as it is, without tackling the possibility of dealing with that fear till the end of time!"

Jesse raised his brow at that. Remembering something that he had thought of earlier, that had been very similar to what she was saying now.

"So, you think you would enjoy being Immortal if you had that 'right someone' at your side?" he asked nonchalantly. His heart suddenly picking up speed as he awaited her answer.

Rebecca halted. Pulling him to a stop. She met his questioning gaze head on with her unwavering one. "Yes, I would. If I knew he loved me for _me. _Not some vision he had concocted within his head of the one he used to love." Rebecca paused for a moment, a frown developing between her brows. "And it wouldn't be a decision I would make right away. I would have to be sure. Completely sure of the commitment. I would have to know that it was something real and lasting…and not something that would just…disappear on the wind."

Rebecca started to walk again. The flush to her face visible to Jesse even in the darkness. He couldn't help but approve of her statement just then. Like he thought earlier, what was the point to being an Immortal, if you couldn't have the one you loved at your side through Eternity?

They traversed the rest of the way in silence. Still clasping each other's hands tightly. Not wanting the other to disappear. Both of them still trying to deal with the other's presence. Their lives thrown together in such a way that it didn't make sense, but they both knew they had plenty of time to figure it out. But they did need each other. That much was clear.

He acknowledged quietly to himself as they came closer to the house, that in his heart, he had always believed that Winnie was going to choose not to drink from the Spring. That was why he had waited as long as he had. His heart couldn't have taken it, if he had found her old and close to her time. Knew that it would have brought them both immense pain. He had waited till he knew she would have either passed on from this life, or would still be waiting for him. As young and beautiful as when he had left her.

And instead, he had found her legacy. Her descendant. Who possessed the same spirit and beauty that he had fallen in love with so long ago.

Was it possible for him to love another, as much as he had loved Winnie? Did you ever love the way you did when it was for the first time? These were questions he couldn't answer despite all of his knowledge gathered over the decades.

But he knew that the sight of Rebecca, standing there with those wildflowers in her hand, would remain in his mind for Eternity.

Before her death, had this been something that Winnie had realized might happen? She had known the kind of spirit that Rebecca possessed? Had known that Jesse would have been drawn to her? Known that he would fall for her? Had this been something that she had wanted? Knowing that Jesse was still going to be alone after her death? Had she seen the strength from within Rebecca, that would make her willing and ready to drink from the Spring when the time came? He didn't know, but he did know that he'd been given a second chance. By Winnie, by God, by Rebecca…by all of them.

And he planned to make this moment last.

The End.

****************************************

I'm very hesitant to continue this story, because I don't want to tread on the relationship that Jesse and Winnie had. I just wanted to give Jesse some hope after the way that the movie ended, and I hope I've done that!

So I hope you enjoyed! Please review, and tell me what you think!


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